LuLaRoe Consultant, Samantha Langston, had enough about two weeks ago. She had joined LuLaRoe in June 2016 and believed it was her path to financial success. The company, she says, encouraged her to take out loans to not only buy stock to sell, but an iPhone which was necessary to use LuLaRoe software for sales. As a result, she currently has about $15,000 in debt due to her LuLaRoe career. After finding out about the accusations of LuLaRoe stealing artist Micklyn Le Feuvre’s designs, she sent her resignation letter.
She received “permission” to go out of business (GOOB in LuLaRoe parlance). This is a lengthy process that involves checklists and, most importantly, returning unsold merchandise. When Langston sent her resignation letter, LuLaRoe policy was to give a 100 percent refund on unsold merchandise and pay for return shipping. Langston has $16,000 worth of returns–just enough to pay off her debt.
So, on Wednesday night she was ready to sit down and enter the merchandise in order to ship it back and found out that, without warning, LuLaRoe policy had changed that day. Now she was only eligible for a 90 percent refund, had to pay her own shipping, and would be subject to strict scrutiny on returns.
To keep reading, click here: LuLaRoe Changes Return Policy, Costing Consultants Thousands
Whoa! I had no idea this company was MLM (ish)! I was already inclined not to like them, but this seals it – they are slime.
Yeah, this (obviously) isn’t my normal area of focus, but i can’t not expose this. If you want some eye-popping reading go to their twitter feed or Facebook page. People are SO ANGRY.
Yeah- I have a SIL who is a former consultant… man the stuff that they’ve done is slimy. She’s kept me up to date on all the gossip.
All too often, the only difference between MLM and a Ponzi scheme is whether or not the victims can still afford a lawyer.
It is full MLM but the startup cost is higher than many other MLMs.
I would hesitate to call MLM sales a “career”. It’s a scam that people get sucked into, unfortunately.
What are your thoughts on listing MLM sales on a resume/linkedin? I have seen several people do it, and think it’s a bad decision.
I think it depends on what you do. If you sign up with an MLM to get a discount and sell to your sisters and mother-in-law, I’d leave it off. But, if you’re successful at it and build a downline and make a good amount of money on it, then yes, you should include it.
I disagree. You can end up with a potential employer afraid all you will want to do is sell to them. They’ve gotten so high pressure.
I’d say if you’re going to include it, you should 1) be finished doing it, with clear start and end dates. And 2) put it under Other Experience. But ONLY include it if it has some relevance to the position you’re applying to; for example, if you’re going for commission sales or something. If it doesn’t, or you failed at it, or there’s any doubt at all, leave it off. A resume is a marketing document, not your permanent record.
My cousin created a pop-up store, and did so well with LuLaRoe that she got a lease for a permanent store and quit her full-time job. BUT … she is very outgoing and works her butt off. This stuff doesn’t sell itself, its like any work – you have to work at it. You have to create your own audience, its not something where you can have only 1 party a month and do no other outreach. Its social media, videos, networking, repeat business, basically real marketing involved. My cousin is prob the few exceptions to make this work well. It is not passive income at all.
I assume this will all end up in litigation, likely a class action filed on behalf of the disgruntled “Consultants.” Whether or not LuLaRoe gets away with the unilateral changes in its returns policy will probably turn on whether that policy is considered part of a contract and whether the contract allows such a change to be made unilaterally. In the meantime, the shipping charges being cited sound unusually high. They may need to look further into all their shipping options.
First of all, I consider all companies who sell their products via independent contractors, as pyramid schemes. That said, I am going to address the GOOP process that the contractor/salesperson had to fill out to get out of contract. Obviously the company makes it very difficult to get out of program ( a red light warning). I am quite sure that most people haven’t read every word. But most people who do this kind of sales program have to initially put out money before making money.
Based on the details of the story, I get the impression that this individual has been selling for a period of time ( since the product is no longer in original packaging). I would say that they are lucky to get 90% credit for open product and the shipping costs are on them.
I am not going to address politics of the company as the decision to not continue to be a sales contractor for this company has nothing to do with policy of breaking sales contract. Apparently a big number of sales contractors did this at same time. But it all comes down to following the details set up for breaking contracts.
I agree that 90 percent is very generous, but the problem is they were promised 100 percent. LLR billed it as a no-risk kind of a thing and encouraged loans. People felt secure about getting loans because at any time they could quit and get their full investment back.
It was probably unsustainable on LLRs part, but they gave no notice of the change.
They didn’t think through this. Their business sense is terrible.
I do not sell or buy it but I have read about it. The company constantly changes fabric patterns. You order packs of clothing without being able to choose what sizes or types or fabrics you are getting. The consultants use FB to sell. In order to determine what you have and display it so customers will buy the pieces, you pretty much have to remove it from the packaging. It is designed by the company this way to make it hard to return. Then, because you can’t choose, you may have tons of Small when most of your customers are X-Large.
Plus, from what I understand, the product is flimsy and cheap.
At least with Avon and Tupperware, they had / have good products. I think you can actually order from Avon’s website now. And of course Tupperware lasts for-freaking-ever. I buy vintage stuff at the flea market; it’s practically indestructible.
Any business that tells it’s workforce that they should “take out loans” to buy products to resell is not reputable. Responsible employers don’t shift their business costs (carrying inventory is a cost of business) onto their employees.
It’s mind boggling. For a $15K investment, you can have a factory print your own (tasteful) fabric, and start your own business. These are stretchpants, not designer gowns. As a technical designer, I can assure you that you just need a few connections to source fabric, make a pattern for stretch pants, and start selling these on your own.
The women that have been burned from LuLa should band together and start their own business.
MLM’s are pyramid schemes. All pyramid schemes come to an end with a large group of people who lose money. People’s comments above reiterate that this isn’t a normal business – you don’t push costs of inventory onto sales representative, you don’t encourage employees to get business loans, and if you value your sales force, you make them employees and give them benefits. And yes, if these women had ever learned to sew a pair of leggings, maybe they’d have a bit of perspective. The owners of this company are supposedly making billions (yes, billions) – off these women’s backs. There *are* contract sales employees for legitimate companies, who tend to rep more than one line and have expertise, but this is leggings sold over the internet or in people’s living rooms for god’s sake – a product that can be picked up at any local macy’s or on amazon. I feel somewhat sorry for women who sign up for these MLMs with the promise of loads of money. (Any time you are paid because of how many people you recruit instead of how much you sell – run!) BUT a good education or internship, hard work and a steady paycheck is what works for 99.9% of us. This stuff is super risky and usually is going to fail. There is also a very culty/church connection here too.
Here’s another good article:
https://qz.com/1039331/mlms-like-avon-and-lularoe-are-sending-people-into-debt-and-psychological-crisis/
MLMs are all bad. This one is particularly bad with how they treat consultants. So many in serious debt. It’s sad.
It’s a pyramid scheme, like Amway, like all the home-based businesses your friends are flogging desperately on Facebook. Yes, you can make money doing this, but it’s uncommonly hard. Most people doing it don’t make money; they LOSE money.
There is a group of LuLaRoe consultants that takes over a coffee shop where my dharma group meets. Once a month, we can’t get into the back room at all. I hate this so much and I always want to tell these women STOP DOING THIS but I know they won’t listen.
Sara beat me to it–she posted the same Quartz article I was thinking of as soon as I saw your post!
It’s kind of like there are people who make a living playing Texas Hold’Em or blackjack – but most MLM consultants are like the average Vegas tourist who doesn’t stand a chance.